Calif. Agent Pleads Guilty to Theft

A Costa Mesa Insurance agent pled guilty to three felony counts of grand theft and was forced to surrender his insurance license for life following an investigation conducted by the California Department of Insurance (CDI) and prosecution by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

William Earl Stone (AKA: Bill Stone), 58, of Costa Mesa, president of Summit Insurance General Agents & Brokers Inc. pled guilty recently in Orange County Superior Court.

Stone collected insurance premium monies from policyholders and premium finance companies and reportedly failed to place coverage, instead pocketing the unearned premiums totaling $220,710.38. In one case, he failed to place workers’ compensation coverage for a company, exposing them to financial loss.

As part of his guilty plea, Stone was forced to surrender his insurance licenses to CDI, and had to agree not to engage in any insurance business for the duration of his life.

Stone served time in county jail and was also ordered to complete 20 days of community service. He was sentenced to formal probation and ordered to pay a $10,000 penalty to CDI, with the funds earmarked to fight future insurance crimes.